Understanding and accelerating innovation driven ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa - towards a research and technology organization for North-South Cooperation
Name
1140385850-MIT.pdf
Size
4.03 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
35300386f6549f46676eaf177c64bf49
Author(s)
Brunschwig, Jonas Benjamin.
Advisor(s)
Elisabeth B. Reynolds.
Date Issued
2019
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
According to the African Union's strategy, Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) are to play a central role in accelerating Africa's transition to an innovation-led, knowledge-based economy. Member countries are to build and upgrade research infrastructures, enhance professional and technical competencies, promote entrepreneurship and innovation, and generally provide an enabling environment for STI. Over the last ten years, innovation-driven ecosystems have emerged in numerous African cities, often developing around tech hubs and incubators. Using an analytical framework developed at MIT, this thesis assesses the innovation-driven ecosystems of Accra, Ghana; Nairobi, Kenya; and Freetown, Sierra Leone. It then explores if Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) could be introduced as innovation intermediaries in the context of nascent African innovation ecosystems. RTOs are a category of organizations present in many high- and middle-income countries whose mission is to harness science and technology in the service of innovation. It concludes by suggesting a new model of RTO for North-South Cooperation, linking emerging ecosystems in the Global South, such as those found in Accra, Nairobi, and Freetown, with established ones in the Global North.
Description
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2019
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 81-85).
Subjects
Urban Studies and Planning.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
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